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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29825697">sun set too soon</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/paravin/pseuds/paravin'>paravin</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>last to see the light [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Destiny (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gen, Grief/Mourning, Revenge</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 20:28:15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,884</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29825697</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/paravin/pseuds/paravin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A short while after the events of Forsaken, Ikora receives an offer from the Spider.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>last to see the light [3]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2180733</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>31</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>sun set too soon</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>v brief gen fic, focusing on a post-Forsaken Ikora dynamic that I’ve been wanting to poke at. tropey and/or horny bullshit will return soon.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As far as Ikora can tell, the offer is legitimate.</p><p>It comes via one of her more reliable Hidden, bearing the encryption of the Shore’s self-appointed ruler and couched in the vague wording his correspondence is known for. She runs her checks, of course, investigating what the Spider would ever think to offer her, but when she comes up blank, she agrees to the meeting anyway.</p><p>The location is a secluded one, a scrap of land off the Tangled Shore only accessible by jumpship. From the glint of scopes around her, she isn’t the only one who’s stationed snipers as a precaution, but she doesn’t let it faze her as she approaches the small building tucked back against the dark rock.</p><p>The Spider waits by the door.</p><p>He’s larger in person than she expected. Her eyes track over him, taking in the empty ghost shell in his fingers, the twitch of his lower right hand, the way he carries his weight on his left leg to feign weakness, and as she draws in closer, she feels him trying to assess her in return.</p><p>“Ikora Rey. I wasn’t sure you’d come.”</p><p>His mouth is covered by his rebreather but his voice is clear enough, even over the whistling winds. </p><p>“You made an offer,” Ikora says simply. “I’m curious to know what you think is worth my time.”</p><p>Her tone is carefully chosen, haughty and superior, and she watches the way the Spider’s hand tightens slightly on the ghost shell. Irritated then, but not angry. Not yet.</p><p>“Of course,” he says, with an expected level of disrespect. “Allow me to explain inside.”</p><p>Ikora hesitates. Ophiuchus is safely hidden inside her Light, ready to revive her as the situation requires, but from the way the Light seems to ripple inside her, there’s something <i>wrong</i> about that building or its contents.</p><p>“Come now,” the Spider says, his smile audible beneath his mask, “I wouldn’t go to all this trouble just to kill you.”</p><p>It strikes Ikora that he very much would go to all this trouble just to kill her, but she’s intercepted too much of his private correspondence to believe that’s all there is to it. As distasteful as he may be, instant gratification is rarely his priority.</p><p>“We can always have our snipers fight it out,” he suggests with a chuckle. “I’d heard stories of your wisdom but bullets are always a reliable alternative. Especially if you’re feeling... uncomfortable.”</p><p>Ikora rolls her eyes and doesn’t rise to the provocation. “Don’t flatter yourself.” She nods to the doorway. “Show me. I can only hope this isn’t a waste of any more of my time.”</p><p>The Spider’s hand twitches again but he leads the way inside the building with Ikora following close behind. The door slides closed behind her and while she listens carefully, she doesn’t hear it locking.</p><p>She isn’t sure whether that makes her feel better or worse.</p><p>The building’s main room is surprisingly clean. There are no windows on the outside but Ikora frowns at the sight of a large, covered window stretching almost the width of the room inside. There’s a door to the left of it, but the Spider comes to a stop in front of the window itself as Ikora says, eyebrow raised, “You didn’t strike me as the museum type”</p><p>The Spider laughs. “On occasion.” He tucks the ghost shell away and steeples his fingers across his stomach. “I came across some scrap that I thought would be of value to you. Especially after the tragic loss you suffered recently.”</p><p>Familiar grief rises in Ikora’s chest, curdling with equally familiar rage. “I have no interest in any deals relating to Cayde.”</p><p>“No, no, of course not,” the Spider says, but he’s still smiling. “I know how you Guardians struggle with loss.” His eyes track over her, looking for something Ikora isn’t sure how to conceal. “I heard you took it particularly hard.”</p><p>Ikora’s fingers itch to curl into a fist. “Get to your point.”</p><p>With a little bow of his head, the Spider ambles forward to press a button beside the window. Something grinds in the walls and Ikora tries to brace herself as the panels covering the glass slide open. </p><p>“A gift,” he says, waving to the other side of the window. “A reminder of the value of the Shore, for certain <i>indulgences</i>.”</p><p>Ikora takes a step forward in confusion. The room behind the window is almost empty, with just a chair in the center of the space. There’s a man slumped in it, restraints around his wrists and ankles and a blindfold over his eyes, and Ikora’s eyes widen as she takes in the details — the intricate armor, the royal sigil on the cloak, the white streak against dark hair. </p><p>“No…”</p><p>She can feel the Spider’s smug pride beside her as she presses closer to the window, looking for any sign of a trick. “This is impossible.”</p><p>“Improbable, maybe,” the Spider says with a shrug, “but the real deal.”</p><p>Ikora shakes her head. “He’s dead.”</p><p>“As were you, once,” the Spider says. </p><p>Ikora looks back at the figure of Uldren Sov in the next room. There’s no ghost visible but even from here, she can feel the fresh rush of light in him. The outrage burns, a flare of anger towards Uldren, the Spider, and the Traveler in equal measure, but she bites it back as she fights to maintain her composure.</p><p>“Why bring me here?” she asks. “If you’re expecting me to pay you to release him, you’ve more than miscalculated.”</p><p>“Oh, I didn’t bring you here to release him,” the Spider says. He hits another button and Ikora hears the door unlock. “I thought you would appreciate a chance at catharsis.”</p><p>Ikora’s head snaps up. There’s a malevolent glow in the Spider’s eyes but he doesn’t flinch under her gaze.</p><p>“I know the Vanguard are busy,” he rumbles. “Hive rising on the Moon, that Cabal emperor making contact, Vex being a nuisance across the system… It would be awfully rude of me to just send a bomb like this to the City to cause even more devastation.”</p><p>He waves in the direction of Uldren. </p><p>Ikora swallows hard. “Is that a threat?”</p><p>“No threat,” the Spider promises. “After the chaos he caused on my Shore, you’re not the only one who would appreciate some revenge. I’ll keep him to myself, off your radar.”</p><p>“And so this…”</p><p>“Purely a favor,” he assures her. “I haven’t had many Guardians stopping by lately. It’s always helpful to have some well-connected friends.”</p><p>In the room, Uldren shifts in the chair. His wrists twist in the cuffs and Ikora breathes past the urge to snap his bones. </p><p>From the way the Spider chuckles, she hasn’t done a good job of hiding her anger. “Go ahead,” he says. “He’s all yours. A gift, for someone who understands its value.”</p><p>Ikora’s shotgun appears in her hands. Ophiuchus is silent as ever as she moves through the door, and she watches Uldren tense in the chair at the intrusion. He isn’t gagged but doesn’t try to speak as she approaches. </p><p>She pauses for a second, the gun heavy in her hands, and sees the way his breathing goes shallow with fear.</p><p>She knows it shouldn’t make her feel as good as it does.</p><p>She thinks of Cayde, looking up at that face, <i>Uldren’s</i> face, past the barrel of his own gun, and grief steals the breath from her lungs. Her eyes sting with tears and it’s only the presence of Spider outside the window which makes her force them back. </p><p>It’s been months now, months of taking comfort in the fact that Cayde’s murderer got what he deserved, albeit at someone else’s hands instead of her own, and as her finger rests against the trigger, white-hot fury builds at the injustice of his resurrection.</p><p>Uldren freezes when the double barrels of her shotgun press against his chest. </p><p>He doesn’t speak — no smart comments, no snide retorts — and Ikora’s Light pulses inside her in frustration. </p><p>She reaches out, sending a flare of void energy through him from her open palm. It’s not enough to kill but certainly enough to hurt and she adjusts her grip on the gun when Uldren cries out in pain. </p><p>However, even that isn’t enough to draw any more words from him and Ikora’s rage boils over into petty frustration as she slaps him sharply across the cheek. “Say something!”</p><p>Uldren flinches at the slap. Ikora doesn’t miss the way his head twitches in the direction of the Spider when he whispers, “I’m not supposed to speak.”</p><p>It’s meek and pathetic and light-years away from the arrogance of the prince, but it’s still not enough.</p><p>“Not even with a gun to your chest?” she says, pushing it harder against his ribs. Up close, it’s clear how thin he is, cheeks gaunt beneath the blindfold. She doesn’t remember Uldren ever being that malnourished. “What kind of coward are you?”</p><p>Uldren presses his lips together but just lowers his head in submission instead of responding.</p><p>Ikora almost strikes him again, desperate for some kind of reaction, something to prove that she’s still justified in doing this, but his silence stays her hand, if not her gun.</p><p>At least it will be quick.</p><p>She takes a breath, trying to ignore the terror pouring off Uldren in waves. Her mind goes to Cayde instead, how little he deserved any of it, the crippling abyss left in her life afterwards, but as her finger curls around the trigger, she can’t bring herself to finish it.</p><p>Not-Uldren recoils at her noise of frustration but he goes still when she pulls the gun away from his chest. </p><p>The shotgun disappears in an instant and she bristles at the quiet judgment of Ophiuchus as he shifts inside her Light.</p><p>She doesn’t look back as she leaves.</p><p>“Not to your tastes?” Spider calls mockingly from behind her, but the doors aren’t locked and he doesn’t make any attempt to stop her as she storms out into the murky sunlight of the Tangled Shore. </p><p>The snipers are still there. Her comm clicks with Clipper-3 checking in but Ikora doesn’t answer as she slips behind a rock, out of sight of all but her most discreet agent. If Raqan sees her vomit into the dirt through his scope, he doesn’t comment on it and when Ikora straightens up and wipes her mouth, she’s grateful once again for his ability to keep secrets.</p><p>“Returning,” she says to Clipper. The Vandals’ sights shimmer against the rocks but she ignores them as she presses forward to her ship. It takes all she has not to break into a run. “Waste of time. Stand down and return to the City.” </p><p>“Yes, ma’am,” Clipper says. </p><p>Ikora doesn’t stay to watch them depart. Her hands are shaking with anger and grief by the time she seals herself inside the safety of her ship, and she swipes away tears as she reaches for the control panel. </p><p>If it had been anyone else, any victim other than Cayde or any Guardian other than <i>him</i>, she would never have let this stand. However, as her ship rises up, heading back to the bastion of the City, she decides the Spider can have him.</p>
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